Viacom apologizes for ad snafu

NEW YORK, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Viacom has confirmed its agreement in principle with Time Warner Cable in the wake of ads suggesting the contrary that ran in several U.S. newspapers Friday.

"Despite the presence of ads today suggesting its channels have been pulled from the Time Warner Cable service, Viacom today confirmed that it has an agreement in principle with Time Warner Cable to renew carriage for Viacom's MTV Networks, and that MTV Networks' channels remain available on Time Warner Cable," MTV Networks said in a news release Friday. "Due to the timing of the agreement and the New Year's Day holiday, Viacom was unable to pull the previously placed ads, including print ads" in New York, Cleveland, Orlando, Fla., Dallas and Raleigh, N.C.

Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive officer of Viacom, added: "We apologize to Time Warner Cable and our viewers for any inconvenience or confusion these ads have caused. We look forward to continuing our positive and productive partnership with Time Warner Cable well into the future."

Negotiations between Viacom and Time Warner Cable for a new contract went down to the wire this week, leaving many customers to fear they would be starting the new year without Viacom channels like MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike and Comedy Central when the previous Viacom-Time Warner pact expired Thursday.

An agreement in principle was reached and the channels did not go dark, however.

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